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For the past several years, we have been working with the question of "membership" in Seekers Church. We have tried to find language that reflects our understanding of what it means to belong to Seekers Church, and expect to revisit this question in the future. There are two traditions in Seekers Church that have shaped the way we describe this process, a tradition of commitment, and a tradition of inclusion.
Since we began in 1976, Seekers Church has faced the question of how to be more inclusive. Inclusivity is central to the call that Sonya Dyer and Fred Taylor sounded when Seekers Church first came into being. Over the years, we have been careful with our language. We have welcomed all who come to worship, and we have been eager to evoke and give space to new gifts of preaching, liturgical leadership, teaching, and pastoring. As we have said for years in the introduction to this Guide, our commitment is to maintain "a place where all who come can be welcomed, nourished, and empowered to live and celebrate God's call on their lives." This inclusivity is radical as we welcome a person's participation from the moment that he or she walks in the door. This is one influence on our understanding of belonging in Seekers Church.
Throughout our life we have sought to honor the traditions of the Church of the Saviour. Some of our understandings about belonging are derived from the structures that we inherited from this church. These structures are described in the sermons of Gordon Cosby and the writings of Elizabeth O'Connor. In Gordon Cosby's vision, integrity of membership was strongly linked to a total commitment to Christ and the community. His primary concern was that each individual must know God for him or herself. Everything else was secondary. He dreamed of a church where, in the words of Elizabeth O'Connor, "the members would be committed to Christ and committed to one another in unlimited liability." This commitment to Christ and the church is life-changing, and requires a preparation that is measured in years, not months.
Seekers Church has sought to be a church that lives and worships in the tension between this radical vision of commitment as envisioned by Gordon Cosby and the radical vision of inclusivity as envisioned by Sonya Dyer and Fred Taylor. This is a paradoxical vision. The two deeply held values do not mesh into a logical pattern, yet we have found that the juxtaposition of these apparently conflicting ideals in our community has been a fruitful one.
As a result, belonging to Seekers Church is different from that encountered in conventional congregations in several ways:
The investment of time and energy is made by participating in the worship life of Seekers Church, the School of Christian Living, a mission group or other small group, and time shared with others in the community. It focuses our spiritual journey on two relationships-the relationship with God, and relationships in community.
Persons name themselves as belonging to our church by affirming that they are Seekers, claiming for themselves the intention to participate in the on-going life and worship of the church. There are many forms that this participation may take -- probably as many forms as there are Seekers. All Seekers are invited to offer their gifts -- preaching, teaching our children, teaching in the School of Christian Living, joining Seekers mission groups, organizing and supporting special activities in the life of the community. All Seekers are encouraged to follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit and accept the support of the community as they find their own personal and authentic knowledge of God and Christ. We make serious efforts to welcome and include in our fellowship people who come from very different spiritual backgrounds. And, we expect those who worship with Seekers Church to choose whether or not this community can be a meaningful place for them to follow a Christian spiritual path. We welcome all who come, but expect a conscious commitment to the community from those who stay.
All who worship with us are also invited to join a mission group or request a spiritual director from within the community. We require that anyone who wants to join a mission group first take at least two classes in the School of Christian Living. Mission groups have various expectations of their members that involve on-going accountability.
Those interested in becoming part of Seekers Church typically follow this path:
If you are interested in making a commitment to Seekers Church, you are invited to speak with any Steward.
When a participant in Seekers Church feels ready to put down roots as member, he or she may publicly declare at worship or a community gathering that she or he is committing to a growing relationship with Christ through a commitment to Seekers Church, using this statement:
I am a Seeker. I come today to affirm my relationship with this Christian community in the tradition of the Church of the Saviour, linked with the people of God through the ages.
As a member of this church, I will deepen my relationships in this local expression of the Body of Christ, sharing my gifts from God with others who worship with Seekers Church, and in the wider world. I will:
- Nurture my relationship with God and Seekers Church through spiritual disciplines;
- Care for the whole of creation, including the natural environment;
- Foster justice and be in solidarity with the poor;
- Work for the end of all war, both public and private; and
- Respond joyfully with my life, as the grace of God gives me freedom.
A key element in the life of Seekers Church is the understanding that our commitment to Christ and to Seekers Church is conscious and intentional. To reinforce this understanding, we renew our commitment to the community each year. "Recommitment Sunday" is observed on the third Sunday in October in memory of the first commitment of the founding members of the Church of the Saviour in 1947.
Each fall those who have affirmed their membership in Seekers Church are invited to re-examine it in their daily meditation, through discussion in their mission or small group and/or with their spiritual directors or mentors, and through a vigil in the sanctuary. The month before Recommitment Sunday is a time for each Seeker to reflect on her/his commitment to Seekers Church. Normally, there is a guide with suggested questions to focus this reflection. Each Seeker is encouraged to pray over the call of Seekers Church and the commitment statements, to clarify the level of commitment she or he can make with integrity, based on current circumstances or on the personal challenge to reach for a deeper life of faith.
Preparation for recommitment is also a special time to invite Seekers who are not committed Stewards but feel called to that more explicitly accountable level of stewardship for the Seekers Church to begin preparation. The opportunity to serve as a Steward is open to all who are called, and who have completed the appropriate preparation.
Those who feel led to recommit will read the prepared statement in unison during worship on Recommitment Sunday. Those who do not feel led to make or renew their commitment are nevertheless warmly encouraged to continue and deepen their participation in the life of Seekers Church.
The process of becoming a Steward usually requires several years. It includes completion of four classes in the School of Christian Living, participation in a mission group and its spiritual disciplines, proportional giving to Seekers Church, and extensive participation and leadership in activities of Seekers Church. People do not move into membership as a Steward quickly, and some choose to be active participants in the community and make significant contributions to the life of the community for many years without becoming Stewards.
A prospective Steward requests a current Steward to sponsor him or her. This sponsorship is more intensive than spiritual shepherding or mentoring, and involves serious examination of whether the candidate is prepared for personal unlimited responsibility for the Body of Christ. The candidate prepares a written spiritual autobiography and reviews it with the sponsor, then reads it to his/her mission group and elicits comments. The candidate is invited to attend a Stewards' meeting, and to read his/her spiritual autobiography at the next meeting. When this is completed, the candidate is welcomed as a Steward of Seekers Church. At worship the following Sunday, the new Steward publicly reads the Stewards' commitment and is welcomed by the congregation.
Prospective Stewards are asked to take at least four courses in the School of Christian Living as a way of experiencing the gift of a personal God and of sharing the faith, as well as exploring the concepts of commitment and community as it is expressed in Seekers Church. The required classes are Hebrew Scripture, New Testament, Christian Growth and Christian Doctrine. While credits from other sister community schools in the tradition of the Church of the Saviour may be accepted, we encourage prospective Stewards to take as many of the classes as possible with the Seekers School.
Prospective Stewards will have identified their point of ministry, and joined one of the ongoing mission or support groups of the Seekers Church. Generally, the prospective Steward should have taken at least two courses prior to entering a group; persons are encouraged to take most of the courses prior to this commitment. Entering into a mission/support group includes the commitment to personal daily disciplines and to accountability to that group for one's spiritual journey. Generally, individuals will have participated in the group for six months prior to becoming a Steward.
The sponsorship period is a process to help the prospective Steward review his/her faith journey and readiness to assume the disciplines and commitments of a Steward. Generally, the sponsorship process will take one to three months, with extensions if needed. The sponsor is a Steward, who is chosen in consultation with the prospective Steward's mission group. The prospective Steward, under the guidance of the sponsor, will review:
The sponsor will be supported by other Stewards in working with the prospective Steward. The sponsorship process ends with sharing the autobiography with the Stewards, and spending one hour in the sanctuary prior to the commitment ritual.
The new Steward is welcomed into membership as a Steward in a ritual during a Sunday worship service following the Stewards' meeting. The new Steward works with the Celebration Circle mission group to develop a meaningful ritual, which includes reading the commitment statement.
- Adopted by Seekers Core Members in May 1987
- Revised by Seekers Stewards in September 2001
This is the statement a person makes when becoming a Steward of Seekers Church:
I come today to make my commitment as a Steward of Seekers Church, a Christian community in the tradition of the Church of the Saviour, linked with the people of God throughout the ages. We worship God as triune being. Along with the Disciples, we believe:
That the Creator -- father and mother to us all, ground of our being -- loves, sustains and calls us;
That Jesus is the Christ, who calls us to a ministry of love and justice;
That the Holy Spirit, as the empowering presence and breath of God, confronts and inspires us to do God's work in the world.
We believe that we are all ministers of the Church, which is both universal, grace-filled body of Christ and fragile earthen vessel.
I commit to:
- Be a faithful witness to God's presence among us;
- Nurture my relationship with God and Seekers Church through specific spiritual practices or disciplines;
- Care for the whole of creation, including the natural environment;
- Foster justice and be in solidarity with the poor;
- Work for the ending of all war, public and private;
- Share responsibility for the spiritual growth of persons of all ages in the Seekers Church community;
- Take responsibility for the organizational health of Seekers Church;
- Respond joyfully with my life, as the grace of God gives me freedom.
If I move from this place, I will join another expression of Christ's church.
- Adopted by Seekers Founding Members in July 1976
- Revised by Seekers Core Members in 1982
- Revised by Stewards in September 2001
This commitment is based on the original commitment to membership in the Church of the Saviour:
I come today to join a local expression of the Church, which is the body of those on whom the call of God rests to witness to the grace and truth of God. I recognize that the function of the Church is to glorify God in adoration and sacrificial service, and to be God's missionary to the world, bearing witness to God's redeeming grace in Jesus Christ.
I believe as did Peter that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. I unreservedly and with abandon commit my life and destiny to Christ, promising to give Him a practical priority in all the affairs of life. I will seek first the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness.
I commit myself, regardless of the expenditure of time, energy, and money to becoming an informed, mature Christian. I believe that God is the total owner of my life and resources. I give God the throne in relation to the material aspect of my life. God is the owner. I am the ower. Because God is a lavish giver I too shall be lavish and cheerful in my regular gifts.
Realizing that Jesus taught and exemplified a life of love, I will seek to be loving in all relations with individuals, groups, classes, races, and nations and will seek to be a reconciler, living in a manner which will end all war, personal and public. I will seek to bring every phase of my life under the Lordship of Christ.
When I move from this place I will join some other expression of the Christian Church.
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